Over the past few months, fears have grown for the health of the 80 year-old country music legend Dolly Parton. These concerns were spurred at the end of September when Parton postponed her Las Vegas residency from December of 2025 to September of 2026 due to health issues.
Now, Parton has sadly cancelled her Las Vegas residency altogether as these health struggles continue.
Parton Cancels Residency
Parton, 80, announced the cancellation in a lengthy Instagram Reel on Monday, May 4. In the reel, she addressed both her health and the death of her husband Carl Dean, who died in March of 2025. They had been married for nearly 60 years at the time of his passing.
“Thank you for standing by me and showing me so much love and support over the past year. I’ve still got some healing to do, but I am on my way! See you soon. 💖 🦋,” Parton wrote in the caption.
“Well, hey there, it’s Dolly, and I’m here to give you an update on a few things going on in my life,” Parton began in the video. “First, it’s concerning my health — and I have some good news and a little bad news. But the good news is I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day. Now, the bad news is that it’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say.”
Parton Doubles Down
Parton went on to say that she couldn’t be “dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars and such on five-inch heels.”
“And you know I’m gonna be wearing them. Not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair and my…big uh personality. That would make anybody swimmy-headed,” she added with a laugh.
Parton then used the idea of restoring a classic car to be “better than ever” as a metaphor for the health problems she’s been facing.
“When they raised the hood on this old antique, they realized that I need to rebuild my engine and that my transmission is slipping, my oil pan is leaking, my muffler’s busted and my shocks and pistons need to be replaced,” Parton continued. “And for sure, my spark plugs need to be changed, because you know, as well as I know, that I can’t lose my spark. I know I’m still crazy, but they didn’t mention anything about my mental health.”
Parton’s Kidney Stones
Parton proceeded to reference her issues with kidney stones. Indeed, she first opened up to the world about this back in September of 2025.
“I’ve told you before that I’ve always had problems with my kidney stones,” the “Jolene” singer said. “Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple of years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding their strength.”
Parton also joked about not wanting her lower lip to fall off “on top of everything else” because it would be like “losing a hub cap.”
“Anyway, I know I’m being silly, but I’m just tryin’ to keep everything light and airy,” she stated.
Parton Discusses Late Husband
From there, Parton pivoted to reflecting on her first year without Dean.
“A lot of you have been concerned about me and Carl, and you were so great about that,” Parton gushed. “But after going through a year of firsts, I mean the holidays, and especially our wedding anniversary, and the date of his death, March. 3, that was hard for me.”
“But I will always love him, and I will always miss him, but you would be surprised how much your love and concern meant to me during that time,” she continued. “Lord, my house and my porch looked like the botanical gardens….from the bottom of my heart I thank you; you have been a big part of my healing.”
Parton additionally recounted a joke that she and Dean once shared.
“Speaking of Carl and my health, I remember back years ago, I was saying something, I was griping about something hurting, and Carl said, ‘Now, honey, you know you’ve got to remember you’re not getting any younger. I said, ‘Well, honey, you’ve got to remember that as long as there are plastic surgeons in this world, I’m not getting any older,'” she remembered with a laugh.
“But anyway, of course, plastic surgeons can make you look as good as you can on the outside, but it’s serious business when you’re talking about internal medicine,” Parton added. “But I have great doctors, and they assure me that everything is treatable.”
‘I Will Always Love You…’
Parton ended her video by thanking her fans for their support.
“I will always love you,” Parton concluded.
Check out Parton’s full video for yourself below.
Parton is a true living legend, and there will never be another one like her. While it’s sad that she’s been forced to cancel her Las Vegas residency, we’re glad that she’s taking time to take care of her health.
God bless you, Dolly Parton!